Police report: Indian River County driver who hit teen girl mistook school bus for 'farm equipment'

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The driver in a crash last week in which a teen girl was injured as she crossed a road to her school bus said she thought the bus “was farm equipment going slow so she did not stop for the lights,” a report obtained Monday states.

Laura Lemmon, 51, drove a Ford Mustang south on 58th Avenue at 6:20 a.m. Thursday as a school bus was stopped on 58th Avenue at 42nd Street, according to a report from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

A 16-year-old girl, who had been waiting at her bus stop, was crossing the road to get to the bus.

The Mustang struck the girl, who was taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce. She sustained bruises and abrasions. Witnesses said the bus was stopped, and its lights on.

Lemmon, breaking news editor for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, told investigators “she thought the vehicle with the flashing lights was farm equipment going slow so she did not stop for the lights,” the report states.

Lemmon, of Vero Beach, was cited for failing to stop for a school bus.